Newspaper gun



R. H. RENNER NEWSPAPER GUN Jan. l5, 1957 Filed April 14, 1955 u mw ww NEWSPAPER GUN Ralph H. Renner, Noblesville, Ind.

Application April 14, 1955, Serial No. 501,339

2 Claims. (Cl. 124--27) This invention relates to newspaper guns. It is an object of the present invention to provide a newspaper gun which will shoot newspapers sixty feet with considerable accuracy which is designed to be em' jecting other objects into the air for amusement purposes.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a gun having the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, has a minimum number of parts, is inexpensive to manufacture and eilicient in operation.

For other objects and a better understanding ofthe invention, reference may be had to the following detailedl description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view thereof looking from the right of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a side View shown partly in elevation, and partly in section of a modified form of the present invention; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view thereof taken along the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, represents a plastic handle having an externally knurled gripping surface 11 and an enlarged cylindrical end 12 which is secured within one end of a hollow cylindrical plastic tube 13, substantially as illustrated. The vertical outer face of the enlarged end 12 is provided with a cylindrical recess 14 which receivestherewithin one end of the coil spring 15. The handle 10 is provided with a cutout 16 along the lower edge thereof which communicates with the recess 14 and serves to pivotally mount the trigger 17 by means of a pin 18. The trigger 17 at the upper end thereof is integrally formed with the horizontal iinger 19 which terminates in the hook 20 for a purpose which will hereinafter become clear. A stop 21 is secured to the handle and limits the downward movement of trigger 17, as will be obvious.

A hollow cylindrical tube 22 is slidably received within the barrel 13, being formed of plastic and provided with a central wall 23 for a purpose which will hereinafter become clear. The wall 23 is integrally formed with the rearwardly extending shank 24 connected to a conical tip 25 by means of the relatively narrow neck 26, the yshank 24 andneck 26 extending rearwardly within the spring with the conical tip 25 engaging the hook 20,

as shown in Fig. l, whereby to retain the cylindricall member 22 against outward displacement under the action of spring 15. A spring 27 is positioned within a bore 28 and serves to retain the hook in operative engagement with the conical tip 25, as will be obvious. A newspaper lice 29 when rolled up into the configuration of Fig. 1 may then be inserted into the barrel 13 and to be received within the outer "end of the sleeve 22 in abutment with the wall 23. Thus, upon rotationalvmovement of the trigger 17 in a clockwise direction against the action of spring 27, the hook 20 will move downwardly out of engagement with the conical tip 25 to permit the release of the sleeve 22 under the action of spring 15, which release will project the newspaper 29 a distance of sixty feet with accuracy so as to permit the newspaper toA be delivered onto the doorstep by the moving newspaper truck or bicyclist without the necessity of stopping.`

A ring 36 is secured within the outer end of the barrel 13 and serves 'to limit the outward displacement of the sleeve 22 under the action of spring 15.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, there is shown a modiiied form of the present invention adapted to be employed for projecting other articles than newspapers into the air for amusement purposes. In this form of the invention, the plastic barrel 13a is provided with a pair of elongated, oppositely disposed slots 31 and 32 within which ride the pins 33 and 34, respectively, integrally formed in the sleeve 22a. By this construction, the sleeve 22a may be brought rearwardly without the necessity of inserting an elongated newspaper 29 as in the previous form by drawing the pins 33 and 34 inwardly in slots 31 and 32 until the conical tip 25 is locked by the hook Ztl. ln this form of the invention other objects than newspapers may be projected into the air as a substitute means for clay pigeons, for shooting ballswith a string attached (so that the ball can be retrieved) into a tube floating in a lake or pond as a toy amusement device. The gun may also be employed for projecting `a ball with a cord attached as a means of projecting life lines. The gun of Figs. 3 and 4 may also be employed as a game for shooting balls of appropriate size into a basket or as a new form of soft ball pitching device.

In other respects the form of the invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is the same vas that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and like reference numerals identify like parts throughout the several views.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as denedby the appended claims.

What l claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

l. A device of the class described comprising an elongated hollow, substantially cylindrical barrel, .a hollow cylindrical member open at both ends and having a transverse bore intermediate the ends thereof, said hollow cylindrical member being slidably mounted within said barrel, a rearwardly extending shank connected to said transverse wall, a reduced neck at the rear end of said shank, a substantially conical enlargement at the end of said neck, a coil spring surrounding said shank within said hollow cylindrical member with one end thereof in abutment with said transverse wall, a pistol grip formed at the upper end thereof with a cylindrical enlargement secured within said barrel, said cylindrical enlargement on the outer face thereof having a substantially cylindrical recess receiving the end of said spring therewithin, said pistol grip having a cutout portion extending upwardly from the lower edge thereof and communicating with said recess, a trigger pivotally mounted within said cutout portion and including a forwardly extending nger integrally formed with a hook adapted to engage said conical tip, said barrel being adapted to receive therewithin a newspaper or the like when said coil spring is retracted, and spring means for normally retaining said hook in engagement with lsaid conical tip.

2. A device according to claim l, said barrel having a pair of oppositely disposed elongated slots extending lon" gitudinaliy thereof, and a pair of oppositely disposed outwardly extending pins connected to said hollow cylindrical member and riding within said Vslots whereby to permit the device to be loaded for the projection of articles other than newspapers.

UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Daniels Oct. 7, 1902 Jonassen Oct. 3, 1922 Spencer Aug. 31, 1926 Kahler Sept. 6, 1938 

